#LifeAtWitt Feature: Lilly James ’26
Lilly James is her name and saves is her game.
James, Wittenberg class of 2026 from Troy, Ohio, is a junior nursing major and a right-handed relief pitcher on the Tigers’ softball team. As a Wittenberg student, she is racking up saves on the mound while also preparing to save lives with her personal care by helping those in need in the nursing field.
Last season she made 34 appearances on the mound, all but one as a reliever, and she picked up seven wins and nine saves along the way. The nine saves gave her a career total of 12 to break the program record for career saves. She finished the season with a 3.40 earned run average (ERA) and 74 strikeouts in 72 innings pitched, giving her a career milestone of 100 strikeouts.
After helping Wittenberg to a 21-21 overall record and a top-four finish in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) in 2024, James and the softball Tigers are off to a fast start to the 2025 season after going 8-2 on their Spring Break trip to Orlando, Florida. James made six relief appearances, earning one save and posting a 2.14 ERA in 16.1 innings.
“My future plans are to graduate from Wittenberg with my BSN in Nursing. And with that degree, I plan to gain experience in the field for a few years before going on to grad school to earn my master’s degree in hopes of becoming a nurse practitioner,” said James, who earned Academic All-District honors from Collegiate Sports Communicators (CSC) last year. “I want to go into either pediatrics, as I love working with the littles, or specializing in wound care. My dad was diabetic, and I have grown an interest in this area of nursing as clinicals go on and my experience furthers.’’